In case you missed my first hub about my losing my job titled I've Been Fired, you can read that hub just by going here.

So this is the first time that I have been unemployed in over 17 years and let me tell you it's very scary.

Here are just a few stats for unemployment in a few states in the US...

California12.4%(p) in Oct 2010

Colorado8.4%(p) in Oct 2010

Connecticut9.1%(p) in Oct 2010

New Jersey9.2%(p) in Oct 2010

New York8.3%(p) in Oct 2010

Those are some pretty sobering numbers...numbers that until just three days ago I really did not pay much attention to...until I was an additional stat added to the last figure below for New York...and I'm sure that this figure is actually just a bit higher now.

Now the first thing that I did Thursday morning was go to my local unemployment office here in upstate NY and I went in there with the idea that I wanted to do a total makeover of myself and I said to this person that I wanted to get training to become some sort of an office worker, I mean after all I can use a computer and I could learn with the proper training and incentive and of course being unemployed at the moment was certainly the proper incentive. So I told the person with whom I was speaking with that morning about what I wanted to accomplish and she proceed to inform me that we are in a recession, and that there were many experienced people with backgrounds in office work, who were already more qualified than I was and that those people were not able to find work at the moment.

So, I pretty much got the idea that I would not get any real help from that woman and well at least for the moment I would have to do exactly what I had to do better than 17 years ago and just go from place to place and fill out that dreaded, personal, and sometimes invasive Job Application.

But here is something that I really was not aware of....now a lot of places have you go to their website to fill out an application.

I'm not really sure if this is a good or a bad thing, as in one respect the idea of filling out a job application online certainly can save you ( and me ) a lot of running around town or towns and save us all some gas as gas in my area is running around $3 and some change at the moment.

But, then you kind of lose the personal face to face interaction that you get when you actually are able to speak with someone when your filling out that job application.

Personally I'd like to have that face to face actually as I can kind of gauge whether someone is being honest or whether your just getting fed the usual canned " We will call you if we are interested " kind of response after the human resource person has sized you up and decided that she ( or he ) thinks your worth a second interview or not.

Any way, below are just some of the places that I have gone to place apply for work online so far....

Okay, so these are just some of the online job applications I'm sure that most folks can find online at the moment.

I'm not sure what else is available for me to look at on a local level as far as job opportunities in my area of upstate NY, but tomorrow I take a look at our local newspaper and check out the Help Wanted Ads that are always new on Sundays and hope for the best, and who knows what Monday will bring, but all I can do is keep pounding the pavement and the Internet to try and find something along with many other Americans who find themselves out of work at the moment in the US.

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Comments 2 comments

Hey, I'm one of those office workers that woman at EDD was talking about, and she's right, if you don't have experience in that job category, getting training will pretty much be a waste of time, especially if you're over 50. It's rought out there, man. Later!

animekid 5 years ago from Upstate NY Author

Hey Kosmo! :)

Thanks for the comment...please understand that I did not mean any disrespect, but in an ever increasing economy that continues to do it's downward spiral, I think it is up to us to try to reinvent ourselves, no matter what the age we are at the moment. Of course having a disease such as Churg Strauss Syndrome, makes my job opportunities a little bit more tough..my wife was saying something to me this evening about a warehouse job...well if it's not driving a Forklife, I really cannot do it any longer.